Tape feed and take-up mechanism



Dec. 31, 1968 A. KINGSLEY TAPE FEED AND TAKE-UP MECHANISM Sheet INVENTOR AVA/6.625%

FIG-- 2; 3/

Original Filed July 9, 1964 1366- 1968 1.. A. KINGSLEY TAPE FEED AND TAKE-UP MECHANISM Sheet Original Filed July 9, 1964 Era- 7.

INVENTOR law/54 z/n/wzfl United States Patent "ice This invention relates to an improved tape feed mechanism for stamping machines. More specifically, this invention relates to a tape reel take-up mechanism for hot stamping machines wherein the amount of tape advance can be readily varied over a continuous range and the used tape can be quickly removed without dismantling the machine. This is a continuation of my copending application, Ser. No. 381,476, filed July 9, 1964, now abandoned, for a Tape Feed.

In stamping machines of the type described in Kingsley Patent No. 2,047,373 issued July 14, 1936, and subsequent modifications thereof, the tape advance mechanism utilizes a ratchet wheel type of drive on the take-up reel. The problem with such a drive is that it allows no means for adjusting the amount of tape advance other than by varying the number of teeth the pawl engages, or by installing a wheel having a different size of teeth. In either case, such a drive mechanism is not susceptible of continuous variation within a given range but only by a number of steps determined by the size of the ratchet wheel teeth. It is often desired to change the size of the type as well as; the number of lines of type and such a change will require an adjustment of the tape advance so that only a minimum of unused tape is advanced under the type head and none is wasted. An adjustment by steps is not sufficiently precise to achieve this results with all varying sizes of type faces.

It is an object, therefore, of this invention to provide an improved tape advance mechanism for a hot stamping machine.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a tape advance mechanism wherein a novel clutch arrangement is utilized to allow a precise adjustment of the amount of tape advanced.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a reading of the following description in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial front elevation of the take-up mechanism attached to a stamping machine.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation showing the detail of the tape rollers.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation, taken along line 33 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the clutch assembly taken along line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the clutch assembly taken along line 55 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of the device taken from line 66 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is another side elevation of the device taken from line 77 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 8 is an exploded sectional view showing the adjusting elements of the tape advance mechanism.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation similar to FIGURE 6 showing the tape advance in one state of adjustment.

FIGURE 10 is another side elevation showing a different adjustment of the tape advance.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 6, a stamping machine of the type described in Kingsley Patent No. 2,047,- 373 issued July 14, 1963, has a gooseneck arm 12 extending over bed 13, and has a vertical guideway formed in said arm to reciprocally mount operating bar 14 which partially in section,

3,418,924 Patented Dec. 31, 1968 at its lowermost extremity carries a type holder head 15 containing type 16 secured in type holder 17 by clamping screw 18. The details of the type holder are more fully described in Kingsley Patent No. 2,740,352 issued Apr. 3, 195 6. Head 15 contains a conventional heating element. Return springs 19 and 20 are mounted between arm 12 and head 15 to return head 15 to its uppermost position after a stamping.

An anvil 21 is secured on printing bed 22 mounted on bed 13, and positioned directly beneath type 16. Pigmented tape 23 is reeved from a roll (not shown) between type 16 and anvil 21 to the takeup mechanism. A guide bar 24 is mounted to typehead 15 by a pair of arms 25 and extends downwardly and away from the typehead, retaining tape 23 out of contact with the hot type 16 until the type is lowered to the workpiece 26 on anvil 21 as seen in FIGURE 9.

The take-up roller assembly is rigidly mounted to the vertical operating bar 14 by a U-shaped bracket 27 and in turn reciprocated with said operating bar. See FIG- URES 2 and 3. A pair of side brackets 28 and 29 are attached to the sides of bracket 27 and are each provided with two apertures 30 and 31 adapted to receive the shafts 32 and 33 respectively of feed roller 34 and idler roller 35. Said roller 35 is spring mounted by means of springs 36 so that idler roller 35 exerts pressure on feed roller 34. The pressure is made adjustable by the screws 37 threaded to tabs 38 on brackets 28 and 29 and provided with lock nuts 39.

The tape 23 is reeved between feed rollers 34 and idler roller 35, thence upward over take-up roller 40. Roller 40 is mounted at one end only by bracket 41 attached to side bracket 29. The roller 40 has a diametrical slot 40a extending therethrough and running substantially the entire length of the roller. The slot 40a extends all the way to the free end of roller 40 and is open at that point. When the tape 23 is initially threaded into the machine, the free end 23a is inserted in slot 40a and roller 40 is manually turned a half revolution or more to secure the end therein. The opening of slot 40a at the free end of roller 40 permits used tape to be easily slid ofi the roller without any changes or adjustments in the machine. A bearing block 42 attached to bracket 41 supports shaft 43 of roller 40, and a pulley 44 is affixed to the end of said shaft 43. A drive belt 45 connects pulley 44 with a second pulley 46 on shaft 32 of the feed roller 34. Thus, when roller 34 is driven, take-up roller 40 is also driven, taking up the slack and winding the tape onto the roller 40.

Immovably affixed to the front of the gooseneck arm 12 is a bracket 47 extending laterally outward and having an index plate 48 depending therefrom. Said index plate is provided with a vertical slot 49. A pivot pin 50 having a squared shoulder 51 is inserted in said slot 49 and se cured with washer 52 and nut 53. Nut 53 has finger tab 54 formed integrally therewith to provide for quick release and adjustment. See FIGURE 8.

A crank arm 55 having a slot 56 extending radially from the pivot axis thereof is afiixed to the exterior clutch housing 57 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 5. The cylindrical portion 58 of pivot pin 50 is positioned in slot 56 allowing for sliding motion of said crank arm relative to said pivot pin. A pair of clutch plates 59 are mounted to form a cage on shaft 32 of feed roller 34 by means of the squared portion 60 on said shaft which is received in the substantially square apertures 61 in said plates 59. Each clutch plate 59 is formed having a number of spring retaining fingers 62 with springs 63 thereon, and a number of arcuate, semirectangular apertures 64. An equal number of clutch rollers 65 is provided having their shafts 68 situated in said arcuate apertures. Springs 63 push against rollers 65 forcing the same against the interior surface of the clutch housing 57.

The operation of the clutch is similar to that of a typical overrunning clutch. As the housing 57 is rotated clockwise as indicated by the arrow 66, the rollers 65 roll freely since the force exerted by the springs 63 on the rollers is overcome by the opposite force exerted on the rollers by the housing. Contrariwise, when the housing is rotated counterclockwise as indicated by arrow 67, the Clutch will lock. The forces exerted on the rollers by the springs and the housing are added and each roller will move counterclockwise until the shaft 68 strikes the inclined edge 69 of each aperture 64. These combined forces then tend to urge each roller outwardly against the interior surface of housing 57 thereby increasing the friction at the point of contact to the extent that no further rotation of the roller can occur. At this point, the clutch is locked. Such a point is reached relatively rapidly so that the amount of free, counterclockwise rotation or play is negligible.

The operation of the tape feed assembly is as follows.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, the clutch location is indicated 70. At the start of a print cycle, operating bar 14 is lowered, bringing down typehead 15 to anvil 21. Bar 14 carries down with it by bracket 27, the entire roller assembly. The pivot pin 50 is stationary in slot 49 and thus crank arm 55 is rotated clockwise as the assembly is lowered, rotating therewith the clutch housing 57. Clockwise rotation of housing 57 allows free rotation of the clutch, thus the tape is not moved on the downstroke.

After a printing, the operating bar is raised, raising the roller assembly, rotating crank arm 55 counterclockwise together with said clutch. The clutch locks in this direction, thus roller 34 is rotated counterclockwise thereby advancing the tape 23. At the same time, roller 40 is turned counterclockwise by belt 45 Winding the tape thereon.

After a number of printings have been accomplished, the quantity of used tape accumulated on take-up roller 40 will become large. The operator can quickly remove this tape by merely sliding it off the roller in the direction opposite the single end bracket 41. The provision of this single bracket 41 substantially increases operating efficiency over the double end brackets such as shown in my prior US Patent No. 3,092,347 which had to be disassembled to remove the used foil.

The amount of tape advanced each time is determined by the amount of rotation of roller 34, and therefore, of crank arm 55. The stroke length of operating bar 14 is constant. However, as more used tape is taken up on roller 40, the diameter will increase tending to pull more tape through the rollers 34 and 35. Such a tendency is alleviated by having the drive belt 45 just tight enough to revolve the take-up roller and keep the tape under a slight tension so that the belt 45 will slip on pulley 44 rather than pull the tape any tighter. In order to adjust the tape advance, the position of pivot pin 50 in slot 49 is varied. FIGURE 9 shows the pin at the lower extreme of the slot and FIGURE 10 shows adjustment at the upper end thereof. Indexing indicia 71 may be added on plate 40 to facilitate precise adjustment and an indicating arrow 72 is provided on pin 50.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made and it is the intention of the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true scope and spirit of this invention.

-I claim:

1. In a tape feed mechanism for hot. stamping machines of the type having a vertically reciprocating operating bar, the combination comprising an assembly of rollers attached to said operating bar, said assembly including a feed roller, an idler roller and a take-up roller; a crank arm connected to said feed roller by a clutch means operable to drive said roller in one direction only, said clutch means including an outer cylindrical housing connected to said crank arm, a pair of clutch plates connected to the shaft of 'said feed roller, said'clutch'pl'ates forming a roller cage and having a plurality of spring retaining fingers formed thereon and a plurality of arcuate semi-rectangular apertures formed therein, a plurality of rollers having the shafts thereof extending into said arcuate apertures, a plurality of spring means positioned on said retaining fingers and contacting said rollers thereby to urge same toward one edge of said arcuate apertures and toward the interior surface of said clutch housing; said crank arm having a longitudinal slot; a bracket afiixed to a stationary point on said machine, said bracket having a vertical slot, a stationary pivot pin affixed in said vertical slot adapted for adjustable positioning therein, said pivot pin extending into said longitudinal slot of said crank arm and slidable therein to rotate same when said operating bar is reciprocated.

2. In a tape feed mechanism for hot stamping machines of the type having a vertically reciprocating operating bar, the combination comprising an assembly of rollers including a feed roller, an idler roller and a take-up roller; said assembly attached to said operating bar by a U-sh-aped bracket, said U-shaped bracket having a vertical side bracket attached at each extremity thereof, said side brackets adapted to receive the shafts of said idler and feed rollers, a vertically extending support bracket attached to one of said side brackets, said support bracket having a bearing block thereon receiving the shaft of said take-up roller, a pulley on said take-up roller shaft and a pulley on said shaft of said feed roller, a drive belt connecting said pulleys; a crank arm connected to said feed roller by a clutch means operable to drive said roller in one direction only, said clutch means including an outer cylindrical housing connected to said crank arm, a :pair of circular clutch plates connected to said feed roller shaft, said clutch plates forming a roller cage and having a plurality of spring retaining fingers formed thereon and a plurality of arcuate semi-rectangular apertures formed therein, a plurality of rollers having the shafts thereof extending into said arcuate apertures, a plurality of spring means positioned on said retaining fingers and contacting said rollers to urge same toward an edge of said arcuate apertures and toward the interior surface of said clutch housing; said crank arm having a longitudinal slot; an index bracket affixed to a stationary point on said machine, said bracket having a vertical slot in which is adjustably positioned a stationary pivot pin, said pivot pin extending into said longitudinal slot of said crank arm and slidable therein to rotate same when said operating bar is reciprocated.

3. In a tape feed mechanism for hot stamping machines of the type having a vertically reciprocating operating bar, the combination comprising an assembly of rollers attached to said operating bar, said assembly including a feed roller and an idler roller; a crank arm connected to said feed roller by a clutch means operable to drive said roller in one direction only, said clutch means including an outer cylindrical housing connected to said crank arm, a pair of clutch plates connected to the shaft of said feed roller, said clutch plates forming a roller cage and having a plurality of spring retaining fingers formed thereon and a plurality of arcuate semirectangular apertures formed therein, a plurality of rollers having the shafts thereof extending into said arcuate apertures, a plurality of spring means positioned on said retaining fingers and contacting said rollers thereby to urge same toward one edge of said arcuate apertures and toward the interior surface of said clutch housing; said crank arm having a longitudinal slot; a bracket affixed to a stationary point on said machine, said bracket having a vertical slot, a stationary pivot pin affixed in said vertical slot adapted for adjustable positioning therein, said pivot pin extending into said longitudinal slot of said crank arm and slidable therein to rotate same when said operating bar is reciprocated.

4. In a tape feed take-up mechanism for hot stamping machines of the type having a vertically reciprocating operating bar and an assembly of rollers attached to said operating bar by a pair of brackets whereby said rollers are movable with said operating bar, the improvement comprising a single vertical bracket attached to one of said roller brackets, said bracket extending above said rollers, said bracket having a bearing means thereon; a horizontal take-up roller having a shaft at one end, said shaft journaled in said bearing means and having a pulley mounted upon the end thereof, said pulley adapted to receive a drive belt coupled to one of said rollers, the other end of said take-up roller being free and unsupported.

5. In a tape feed take-up mechanism for hot stamping machines of the type having a vertically reciprocating operating bar and an assembly of rollers attached to said operating bar by a pair of brackets whereby said rollers are movable With said operating bar, the improvement comprising a single vertical bracket attached to one of said roller brackets, said bracket extending above said rollers, said bracket having a bearing means thereon; a horizontal take-up roller, one end of said roller having a shaft extending axially therefrom, said shaft journaled in said bearing means, the extremity of said shaft hav- 6 ing a pulley mounted thereon, said pulley adapted to receive a drive belt coupled to one. of said rollers; the other end of said roller being free and unsupported, a slot in said roller extending to the free end thereof, said slot being open at said free end.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 147,679 2/ 1874 Nichols et a1. 242-68 X 1,696,638 12/1928 Kallenbaugh 101-288 1,826,602 10/1931 Dabbs 242-68 1,826,498 10/1931 Bignell 101-292 2,706,354 4/1955 Weber 101-288 X 1,170,189 2/ 1916 Rauskolb. 1,619,487 3/ 1927 Roche. 1,650,666 11/1927 Toepfert. 2,621,435 12/1952 Weber.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

EUGENE H. EICKHOLT, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 101-27 

1. IN A TAPE FEED MECHANISM FOR HOT STAMPING MACHINES OF THE TYPE HAVING A VERTICALLY RECIPROCATING OPERATING BAR, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING AN ASSEMBLY OF ROLLERS ATTACHED TO SAID OPERATING BAR, AND ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A FEED ROLLER, AN IDLER ROLLER AND A TAKE-UP ROLLER; A CRANK ARM CONNECTED TO SAID FEED ROLLER BY A CLUTCH MEANS OPERABLE TO DRIVE SAID ROLLER IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY, SAID CLUTCH MEANS INCLUDING AN OUTER CYLINDRICAL HOUSING CONNECTED TO SAID CRANK ARM, A PAIR OF CLUTCH PLATES CONNECTED TO THE SHAFT OF SAID FEED ROLLER, SAID CLUTCH PLATES FORMING A ROLLER CAGE AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPRING RETAINING FINGERS FORMED THEREON AND A PLURALITY OF ARCUATE SEMI-RECTANGULAR APERTURES FORMED THEREIN, A PLURALITY OF ROLLERS HAVING THE SHAFTS THEREOF EXTENDING INTO SAID ARCUATE APERTURES, A PLURALITY OF SPRING MEANS POSITIONED ON SAID RETAINING FINGERS AND CONTACTING SAID ROLLERS THEREBY TO URGE SAME TOWARD ONE EDGE OF SAID ARCUATE APERTURES AND TOWARD THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF SAID CLUTCH HOUSING; SAID CRANK ARM HAVING A LONGITUDINAL SLOT; A BRACKET AFFIXED TO A STATIONARY POINT ON SAID MACHINE, SAID BRACKET HAVING A VERTICAL SLOT, A STATIONARY PIVOT PIN AFFIXED IN SAID VERTICAL SLOT ADAPTED FOR ADJUSTABLE POSITIONING THEREIN, SAID PIVOT PIN EXTENDING INTO SAID LONGITUDINAL SLOT OF SAID CRANK ARM AND SLIDABLE THEREIN TO ROTATE SAME WHEN SAID OPERATING BAR IS RECIPROCATED. 